What is the social gospel?

His death and resurrection are its foundation, and "our sins" are in view — not our trials, not our troubles, not the injustices of our social systems, nor any of the thousand and one lesser ailments that afflict sinful men. The so-called "social gospel" is just another of those "other gospels" which are not really another gospel at all, but a spurious deceit.

The saddest thing of all is that many preachers of various evangelical denominations fall back on it as the most important document of Christendom. For them it seems to become more and more the gospel, and the result is that we hear in our times more ethical preaching — more about becoming better, doing good, improving your better self — than ever before... It is the gospel of works and of evolution. And as this is done, there is less preaching of the utter corruption of man, his lost condition and his complete helplessness to be righteous... This is done also under the cover of a social Christianity, the Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man.

an attempt to humanize the Bible by stripping it of all its spiritual force and meaning; an effort to popularize the gospel and to avoid the scandal of the cross by preaching the Fatherhood of God, which is Unitarianism, and the brotherhood of man, which is Socialism, as the cure-all for every evil and the sure forerunner of the millennium.

What a word for Christendom today, so busy with a social gospel of works for the betterment and improvement of man in the flesh, and rejecting the gospel of salvation by the blood of Christ and new birth by the Spirit of God! God sees all such in the shame of the nakedness of sinful man, with no covering in His holy presence.

Did He appear as a great social reformer? He did not. On the one occasion when He was appealed to and urged to step in because of social and financial inequality, He flatly refused to have anything to do with it (see Luke 12:13-15). Neither are we left here to be social reformers.

God's programme for the present time is "to take from them a people for His name" (Acts 15:14) — not to educate or legislate the nations into better social schemes... It is quite true that the evangelical revival in Britain two hundred years ago led to a considerable improvement in the social conditions of the country, but that was only a by-product of the work. The main result was that many thousands were taken out of the nation for His name.

The gospel does not govern the world, and it is not its nature to do so; and the so-called church — no matter which one — has made an awful mess of attempting it. Its true work is to gather saved souls out of it for Christ and heaven.

In many ways the teaching of the New Testament has been degraded into something merely earthly and social. Instead of repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus, only charity is preached, often with a political flavour... On the other hand, it is no testimony to the grace and mercy of our God if someone thinks that preaching the gospel is a Christian's only task towards the world. Just as our Lord Himself helped people in their various needs while presenting the good news to them, we too can tell our neighbours about Him and at the same time show them the power and blessing of our faith in practice.

An unbeliever may seek the uplifting of humanity, and a hater of Christ may work for easier conditions and cleaner lives for the masses... We should not trouble to argue the point with them, but should go on preaching the gospel.